Thai corn fritters.

   

It's sweetcorn season and I'm so excited to see it everywhere in  supermarkets and farmer markets. I always love to have it grilled or boiled and keep the juice for making soup. That sweet broth will make your soup tastes wonderfully sweet.  I would buy fresh ones every autumn, remove the kernels and keep it in the freezer and use it through the year until the next season. 

It's sweetcorn season and I'm so excited to see it everywhere in  supermarkets and farmer markets. I always love to have it grilled or boiled and keep the juice for making soup. That sweet broth

There are many recipes for sweetcorn from salad, stir-fried, stew, soup and this time I show you the famous Thai corn fritter.

Give it a try:  just pop them in the grill with the husk still on as it will retain moisture and the fresh flavour. You will enjoy them as a great snack or remove the kernels to make a salad.

Ingredients:

For this Thai corn fritter you will need:

You need 3 corn or you could use 2 and 1/2 cups of frozen corn kernels.
1 tablespoon Thai red curry.
3 spoons plain flour.
3 spoons brown rice flour( or rice flour).
Coriander( or scallions) for flavouring.
1 egg. 
Cooking oil

Methods:

Remove corn kernels from the cob .

Blend half of the corn.

Add 1 spoon Thai red curry, chopped coriander, 3 spoons plain flour, 3 spoons brown rice flour.

Crack in one egg. Mix well together.

Use a square box or tray to shape and pour the paste over the baking paper. Flatten the paste thinly then freeze them.

 After half an hour you can cut the paste into shapes that you want.

Otherwise use a plastic spoon or spatula to drop the corn paste into the boiling oil. Use another spoon with other hand to flatten the paste while sitting at the bottom of the pan. Fry the corn on medium-high heat until golden brown.

 Serve with sweet chili sauce.

Singapore noodle ( serve 4).

I love Singapore noodle and for the Irish I changed recipe using more of Western ingredients. The original recipe uses dried shrimps, that’s not very popular to find them here so I use chorizo and it works brilliantly. The taste of dish doesn’t change much with that light curry flavour which is the key thing. You can use both egg noodle or gluten free rice noodle.

Ingredients:

2 bak chois( or other name is bokchoi). If you cannot find bak choi then spinach will work perfectly.

1 small carrot.

2 eggs.

1 small onion.

5 mushrooms.

2 rolls dried noodle.

2 inches Chorizo.

Soy sauce and curry powder.

2 chicken breasts.

3 thin slices bacon.

Methods:

 For noodle I use this thin noodle from my local supermarket. You could use any kind of noodle that easy to find. The difference is the boiling time. Thicker noodle will need to be soaked in hot water slightly longer than the thin one.

This boiling step is very import to get the dish right.

In a pot bring the water to boil.

Add in the noodle.

Use a fork to separate the noodle and straight away remove the pot from the cooker to stop it comes to boil again.

Leave the noodle in the pot to soak for further 3 minutes.

Drain the noodle.

Please note not to rinse it because that will make the noodle mushy.

While the noodle is still slightly warm spread them on a tray to let them cool.Use a scissor to cut the noodle short before adding to the pan. Sprinkle 1 table spoon of curry powder on top and mix well.

Make a diagonal cut with the Chorizo, then cut into matchstick. 

 Use a shredder and shred the carrot.

Finely chop the onion, mushrooms and bak choi as in the picture.

Thinly cut the chicken breasts.

Use a scissor to cut the bacon into small pieces.

Use your hand to separate them from sticking to each other.

Beat 2 eggs in a bowl and fry them on a hot frying pan.

Make sure they flat out like in the picture. Turn the other side to cook before removing them from the pan.

Thinly cut the fried eggs into strings.

Add 1 table spoon cooking oil into a hot frying pan and cook the bacon for 3 minutes until slightly brown.

Add in chorizo and toss well.

Then add in chicken and mix well.

Cook for 2 minutes.

Then add in shredded carrot.

Add in also onion and mushrooms at the same time. Toss well and cook for 3 minutes.

Use a scissor to cut the noodle short before adding to the pan. Sprinkle 1 table spoon of curry powder on top and mix well.

I used two spatulas to mix. Then add in 2 table spoons soy sauce and mix all well together again.

Add chopped bakchoi. Mix well.

Add egg strings and mix well. Cook for another minute and constantly mix everything together.

When everything in the pan gets warm it's ready to serve.

Asian spiral potato.

I'd never tried them before but seeing my friends sharing those beautiful spiral potato pics on Facebook while on holiday. They are very popular snack, street food all over Asia.

My first attempt making Asian spiral potato today, my kids finished them all in no time. I am more than happy to do another batch for them and their Irish neighbour friends.

Methods: 

It will require a bit of focus and patience. I had fun making it.

 Chose the long and flat potatoes. Soak the bamboo skewers in water while peeling the potatoes.

I am not that strong to push the skewer through the whole potato so I cut it into half. Use a sharp small knife and gently cut the potato, make sure you go slowly follow spiral core of the skewers to the end.

Once reaching to the end, press the knife and go backward to make sure the cut is through. From the top you push the cut down to make space using the knife.

Soak them in water to remove the starch. Dust them with some flour ( mix in some curry powder and salt, black peppers or any kind of spice mixed you prefer)). In a large frying pan, heat up the oil and place the skewers neatly when the oil just slightly warm. Cook at medium heat. This way will help the flour stick to the potato. 

Turn occasionally until golden brown.

Vietnamese lettuce wraps.

Vietnamese dishes are well known for using a lot of fresh herbs, low carb and flavorful. I cannot find that many type of fresh herbs in Ireland like in Vietnam but there are enough to work around it. This recipe has great balance of savory and refreshing flavor. Easy to make and it makes you feel light, satisfied if you want a low carb meal. It also could be served with rice or noodles.

Ingredients:

400 gr of pork chop( beef or chicken).

10 mushrooms.

1 chili.

3 lemongrass stalks ( you also can add in ginger). 

 Salad plate:

Shredded carrot ( use a cheese grater, or diced celery ).

Sprout, mints, coriander, lettuce and any kind of light herbs you like.

In a small bowl add :

2 spoons ( normal one) fish sauce.

1 tea spoon sesame oil.

1 spoon soya soy.

1 teaspoon Chinese 5 spice.

1 full spoon sugar.

Methods:

Cut the pork into small pieces.

Chop the white part of the lemongrass.

Chop half of the chili and mince them finely. ( use the whole one if you like it hot).

Finely chop the mushrooms.

Add 3 spoons cooking oil to a hot frying pan.

Fry the lemongrass and chili until brown.

Add in the chopped pork.

Stir well then add in the seasoning bowl with 3 spoons of water.

Simmer for 10 minutes on medium heat and toss well until the pork becomes slightly dried.

Add in the chopped mushroom and fry for another 2 minutes.

Once the mushroom cooked through it's ready to serve.

Mango smoothie ( serve 4).

Summer is here and mango is in season. Time to make mango smoothie. The silky, smooth texture and the wonderful taste of ripe mango is something out of this world. I always make this smoothie every summer for my kids. Ripe mango is available in many supermarkets right now. In winter, when the craving kicks in I will use the frozen ones. The taste is still the same.

The recipe is so simple. You can turn it into ice pops and it never fails to impress the kids.

Ingredients:

2 big ripe mangoes.

1/2 kg frozen yoghurt.

Avocado/ lemon juice ( optional).

Methods:

You can adjust the amount of mango and yoghurt to suit your taste. Sometimes I add in avocado to get creamier texture. To boost the flavor of the mango, a wedge of lemon/lime juice will work great.

Remove the skin of the mangoes. (I usually chill the mango in the freezer for 20 minutes before making the smoothie to get this chilly smoothie for a very hot day).

Add the mango, yoghurt and 1 cup of water into the blender. 

Blend until smooth and it's ready to serve.

Carving pineapple boats/ curry pineapple fried rice.

Pineapple is not only great fruit with so many health benefits, it's also could be used for cooking. This tutorial video will guide you step by step how to carve one. The flesh goes nicely for curry fried rice and the boat looks really nice for decoration, both for the rice or for a salad bowl.

It's very easy once you know how to do it. 

Lemon and lime Rooibos iced tea.

A friend introduced me herbal Rooibos tea few months back then and I love it since. Rooibos tea, also called red bush tea, is a herbal tea derived from the leaves of the rooibos plant. Though consumption of the tea was once confined to the South African regions in which the plant grew, rooibos tea is becoming more popular in Western countries due to its robust taste and numerous health benefits. You can find them easily in the health shops in bag or lose tea. It's the perfect tea for making iced lemon tea and I came up with this recipe:

Recipe:

5 cups water.

3 Rooibos tea bags.

2 lemons.

1 lime.

4 or 5 table spoons sugar.

Boil 2 cups of water and add in the tea bags. Leave the tea bag to brew and let it cool for few hours or over night will give it intensive taste. Sometimes I use the left over tea and it's still perfect.

Extract juice from lemon and lime, add in sugar and 3 cups of water to dissolve the sugar.

Mix in with Rooibos tea and serve with ice.